Eusebio Chacón represents an important link in the development of early Hispanic literary tradition, particularly with respect to the novel and the essay. As a person of multiple talents, he was also fully conscious of contributing to the preservation of written literature from the Southwest. Not only was he a writer of certain distinction; his reputation was greatly enhanced by his keen interest in bibliographical listings of original works, collections of manuscripts on cultural history, and the dissemination of old texts relevant to the region. He is generally credited for publishing the first novels in Spanish in his native state, New Mexico, and in his adopted state, Colorado. He also promoted a wide gamut of literary activities. As a Hispanic leader and spokesman he contributed to efforts to document extant Hispanic expression such as a reprinting of Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá's Historia...